10 best apps to protect your identity

The Equifax data breach scared a lot of people as well it should. That’s a lot of personal information out on the Internet that many people didn’t want there. You may be starting to worry a little more about your identity. We can certainly help with that. Here are ten excellent apps to protect your identity. It’s also worth noting that Equifax is trying to rectify the situation. Those affected by the breach have access to a year of free identity theft protection from them. You can click here for details on that.

Here are some more app lists to help with security.

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Credit Karma

Price: Free

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Credit Karma is a credit check app. It's easy to use. You sign up for the service and it does the rest. You get updates on your credit on a consistent basis. Thus, you can see if new credits cards or other big debts show up in your name. The app runs on advertisements. You will see things like promotions for credit cards. They're easy enough to ignore. The app also has a few other features should you need them. Credit Karma is otherwise free with no in-app purchases.

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Find My Phone

Price: Free

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Find My Phone is Google's phone location service. It comes on most Google Android phones by default. Turning it on is easy enough. The app can help you find a lost or stolen phone. Finding your phone using the service is a little difficult. The big feature here is the ability to remote wipe your phone. That way, you can at least remove your personal data in the event of a stolen phone. You may lose the phone, but it helps protect your identity.

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LastPass Password Manager

Price: Free / $2 per month

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LastPass is a password manager. It helps remember your passwords so you don't have to. In addition, it comes with a password generator. It spits out some very security-friendly passwords. An app like this helps you keep your accounts tightly secured. The service can sync between your mobile devices and most computers. Something like this makes it so you never have to actually write a password down. Most of the app's features are free. You can go pro for some additional stuff.

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LifeLock

Price: Free / $9.99-$29.99 per month

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LifeLock is a service specifically for identity protection. It monitors your various finances. You get alerts for things like cell phone plans, credit cards, loans, and other stuff in your name. Most credit checking apps only ping you for things that affect your credit report. This one goes one step further. It can get rather expensive. However, they do have tiered plans depending on the level of coverage that you want. It's one of the better services to protect your identity.

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NordVPN

Price: Free trial / $11.99 per month / $69.00 per year

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NordVPN is a decent VPN service. VPNs can mask your Internet traffic in public areas to prevent data from being stolen. NordVPN is better for hardcore users. Their paid plans have unlimited bandwidth, a strict no logging policy, and a relatively stable app. That's the three major check boxes for what makes a good VPN. It also boasts a double VPN feature that encrypts your data twice. It might be overkill, but it can't hurt to protect your identity online. The free trial gives you a good look. We recommend going for yearly subscriptions if you do choose to get it. It's way cheaper.

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Tunnelbear

Price: Free / $9.99 per month / $59.88 per year

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Tunnelbear is another decent VPN service. It has many of the same features as NordVPN. That includes a relatively inexpensive paid version, unlimited bandwidth on paid accounts, and a no logging policy. This one does have a free account option. You get 500MB of data. That's not enough for every day use. However, it's good enough to check your email or bank app at a public spot like an airport or local cafe. The paid subscriptions aren't half bad either.

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WalletHub

Price: Free

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

WalletHub is another app like Credit Karma. You sign up for a free account. The app updates your credit score daily. That's about as frequently as you can get without paying a ton of money for it. The app also includes tips and tricks to improve your credit, 24/7 credit monitoring, and more. It works on advertisements. That means you get offers for various things, Like Credit Karma, it's easy enough to ignore if you don't want them. It's otherwise an excellent resource to protect your identity.

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Two-Factor Authentication apps

Price: Free

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Two-factor authentication can be a live saver. It works by texting or emailing you a code when you log into a website. The second level of security is an excellent fallback in case someone gets a hold of your password. Many sites don't use. Thus, it's not available everywhere. We highly recommend you use it when it's available. Some companies have apps that are used in place of a text/email code. Google, Microsoft, and LastPass all have authenticator apps. You should check those out as well.

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Your banking app

Price: Free

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It may seem counter-intuitive to have a banking app on your phone. After all, thieves could get that info if your phone gets stolen. On the flip side of that coin. it gives you quick, almost real-time access to your finances. Anyone who nabs your debit card won't get to spend much if you're monitoring the account. Any discrepancies can then be taken care of in the shortest possible order. Just make sure the rest of your device security is solid.

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A really good lock screen setup

Price: Free

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The best way to keep your info away from threats is to not let them see it. The first line of defense is your lock screen. Virtually all modern smartphones, even budget ones, have fingerprint readers. That would be the best way and it's usually very easy to set up. Even a pattern or a PIN is vastly better than nothing. Having it in place will keep thieves out pretty much forever. The phone will either reset itself after they fail enough times or you can use Google's Find My Phone to wipe your data off of it. It's an excellent way to protect your identity.

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Thank you for reading! We have a couple more app lists for security for you!

15 best Android VPN apps

10 best password manager apps for Android

If we missed any great apps to protect your identity, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists!